The Orthodox Church

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The Orthodox Church

An Introduction to its History, Doctrine, and Spiritual Culture

JOHN ANTHONY McGUCKIN

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© 2008 by John Anthony McGuckin

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First published 2008 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

1 2008

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McGuckin, John Anthony.

The Orthodox Church : an introduction to its history, doctrine, and spiritual culture / John Anthony

McGuckin.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4051-5066-8 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Orthodox Eastern Church. I. Title.

BX320.3.M34 2008

281.9—dc22

2007049377

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For Bill and Maria Spears two extraordinary patrons of Orthodox theology in the New World

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McGuckin/The Orthodox Church 9781405150668_1_pretoc Final Proof page vi 20.2.2008 12:15pm

Contents

Preface xi List of Illustrations xiii

List of Abbreviations xiv Note on Sources xv

Introduction: Strange Encounters 1

1 The Pilgrimage of the Orthodox through History 5 A Brief History of the Orthodox from the Apostolic Era to the

Middle Ages 5 Perspectives of history 5

Earliest Christian foundations 7 The development of ecclesiastical centres 12

The age of the Fathers 14 Creeds and councils 17 East and West: the parting of ways 20

The Slavic mission 23 The Organization of the Orthodox Churches from Medieval

to Modern Times 24 The extension of the Orthodox Church 24

Synopsis of the organization of the Orthodox churches 30 The ancient patriarchates 31

The Orthodox Church of Cyprus 44 The Church of Sinai 46

The Russian Orthodox Church (patriarchate of Moscow) 47 The wider Russian heritage 55 The Orthodox Church of Greece 61

The patriarchal Church of Bulgaria 62 The patriarchal Church of Serbia 65

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vii

The patriarchal Church of Romania 66 The Church of Georgia 70

The Church of Poland 71 The Church of Albania 72

The Church of the Czech lands and Slovakia 73 The three autonomous Orthodox churches 73

The various Orthodox diaspora communities 76 The Orthodox Church in America 80

2 The Orthodox Sense of Tradition 90 The Holy Tradition 90

Sources of Authority in Orthodoxy 100 Orthodoxy’s Reading of the Scriptures 102

An ecclesial reading 103 The principle of consonance 106

The principle of authority 108 The principle of utility 109

Patristic and Conciliar Authorities 110 The Symbolical Books 111 The Pedalion (Holy Canons) 115

Tradition and Revelation 116

3 The Doctrine of the Orthodox Church I: The Glory of the Lord 120

The Christian God 120 The Holy Spirit 126

The Lord Jesus 141 The Immortal Father 158 The Holy Trinity 166

4 The Doctrine of the Orthodox Church II:

The Economy of Salvation 182 Humanity and its Sufferings 182

Salvation and the Call to Ascent 198 The Song of Creation 204

The Blessed Theotokos: Joy of All Creation 210 The Dance of the Blessed: The Angels and the Saints 222

Outside the Gates: Demonology and the Enigma of Evil 234 The Church: Bride of the Lamb 238

5 The Holy Mysteries and Liturgies 277

Greater and Lesser Mysteries 277 The mystery of baptism 282

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CONTENTS

viii

The mystery of chrismation 285 The mystical supper: communion in the Holy Eucharist 288

The eucharistic liturgy 296 The mystery of metanoia 300

The mystery of the great anointing 306 The mystery of marriage 309

The mysteries of ordination 323 The lesser blessings of the church 335 The services of prayer 336

The Trisagion prayers 338 The daily offices 339

Personal prayers 346 Traditions of Orthodox Prayer and Spirituality 346

Methods of prayer 347 Prayer of the heart 349

The Jesus Prayer 351 Hesychasm 352

Fasting and feasting 353 The Holy Icons: Doors to the Kingdom 354 Sacred art 354

The Orthodox vocabulary of worship 356 Icons and iconoclasm 357

Icons of the Lord 361 Icons of the Virgin 362

Icons of the saints 363

6 ‘The God-Beloved Emperor’: Orthodoxy’s Political Imagination 380

Caesaro-Papist Caricatures 380 Byzantine Models of Godly Rule 381

The Ambiguity of Scriptural Paradigms of Power 384 The Concept of the Priestly King 388

Dominion as Apostolic Charism 390 Patristic Ideas on Symphonia 391

New Polities in the Aftermath of Byzantium 395

7 Orthodoxy and the Contemporary World 399

The Poor at the Rich Man’s Gate 399 The Grace of Peace and the Curse of War 402

Freedom in an Unfree World 408 A New Status for Women 411

Biological and Other New Ethical Environments 415 Sexual Ethics and Pastoral Care 420

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CONTENTS

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Ecumenism and the Reunion of the Churches 424 Religious Pluralism in the Global Village 426

Evangelism in a New Millennium 430

Glossary of Orthodox Terminology 436 Select Bibliography 443

Index 453

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CONTENTS

x

Preface

In the course of my own winding, pilgrim’s, road to Orthodoxy it was the tangible

sense of beauty that served as a constant allure. It was the radiant kindness of a few

luminous souls, several of them bishops and priests, that made flesh for me what

I had been searching for, not so much the zealotry that many were eager to offer me as

their witness to the truth. Years later I came across a saying of St Symeon the New

Theologian to the effect that a candle can only be lit from the flame of another living

candle, and it struck me as exactly apposite. When Truth is a living person, we can

no longer try to make it synonymous with mere accuracy. What is at stake is more

a question of authenticity. Orthodoxy is often approached by those outside it as a

system of doctrines. But it is far more than this, and this is why a book of systematic

theology does not quite capture the reality. Orthodoxy is the living mystery of Christ’s

presence in the world: a resurrectional power of life. It cannot be understood, except

by being fully lived out; just as Christ himself cannot be pinned down, analysed,

digested, or dismissed, by the clever of this world, whom he seems often to baffle

deliberately.1 His message is alive in the world today as much as when he first

preached it. The Orthodox Church is, essentially, his community of disciples trying

to grow into his image and likeness, by their mystical assimilation t